News

July 17, 2009

Airport passenger numbers descend again

Decreases likely to continue when Delta Airlines eliminates the only nonstop daily flight to Atlanta.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
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PITTSTON TWP. – Although more passengers flew from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport last month than at the start of the year, the June total was 9 percent lower than a year ago.

It marked the sixth straight month of declining passenger numbers in a year-to-year comparison, according to data provided by the airport Thursday. There were 18,874 passengers in June compared to 20,746 in the year earlier period.

The drop in the year-to-date total was less severe at 6.5 percent with 104,436 passengers in the first half of 2009 compared to 111,683 for the same period in 2008.

The figures are likely to continue decreasing when Delta Airlines eliminates the only nonstop daily flight to Atlanta by its regional carrier Comair. The airline said it will end the service on Aug. 17 because it was losing money in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market.

Revenue figures also were mixed for the month. The airport reported a net income of $5,570 in June. But for the first half of the year, it reported a net loss of $161,052.

The sale of surplus parts for a boarding bridge to a Texas company for $154,646 will bring in much needed revenue. ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems of Fort Worth was the sole bidder.

Airport Director Barry Centini told the bi-county board of commissioners from Lackawanna and Luzerne counties at their monthly meeting that work is expected to begin by the end of the year on a new air traffic control tower. “The design work is pretty much done,” he said.

In anticipation of the project, the airport approved a no-fee lease for four acres with the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA will build the tower at a cost of $13 million to $16 million on the east side of the main runway. The funding is part of the federal economic stimulus package passed earlier this year.

In other business, the fixed-base operator at the airport will change its name to Saker Aviation Services. FBO Air, doing business as First Flight, said the change is the result of it divesting Airborne Inc., its charter operation in Elmira, N.Y. Besides the new name, “everything else remains the same,” Centini said.

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